Jessica Chastain to Reunite With Octavia Spencer for New Holiday Comedy

Maybe this time they’ll leave the pies out of it: Jessica Chastain is set to reunite with her The Help co-star Octavia Spencer for a new holiday comedy — and it’s already causing quite a stir. The untitled project sparked a bidding war among studios eager to distribute the film, which is described as being in the vein of Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Okay, but who’s the Steve Martin and who’s the John Candy in this scenario?

THRreports that Universal emerged victorious in the bidding war to acquire Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer’s untitled holiday film, which reunites the co-stars from The Help for a comedic road-trip. Peter Chiarelli will pen the screenplay based on a treatment co-written by Chastain and producer Kelly Carmichael. Little else is known about the movie, which follows two women desperately trying to make it home for Christmas.

Chiarelli’s previous screenwriting credits include Now You See Me 2 and the highly-anticipated upcoming film Crazy Rich Asians, based on the bestselling novel of the same name.

Chastain, who is also producing the untitled holiday comedy via her Freckle Films banner, most recently appeared in the poker drama Molly’s Game — Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut, based on the true story of Molly Bloom, an ex-Olympic skier who found herself running the country’s most exclusive underground poker game. Spencer recently starred opposite Sally Hawkins in Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water.